Dun Eyre

Stone Fort / Dun

Dun Eyre (Stone Fort / Dun) on The Modern Antiquarian, the UK & Ireland's most popular megalithic community website. 6 images, 1 fieldnote, plus information on many more ancient sites nearby and across the UK & Ireland.

Images (click to view fullsize)

Fieldnotes

Dun Eyre, which is not readily seen from the main road, stands almost a kilometre east of the A87 and at an altitude of some 130 metres near the village of Kensaleyre. It is reached by following a tarmacked road that slants off uphill to the right near the northern boundary of Kensaleyre for just over a kilometre, passing through the scattered community of Eyre. There is a space to park and turn at the end of this road.

From the road end you will see the crag girt Dun Eyre directly ahead, and a path continues towards it, albeit with a fence to cross on the way. Though bounded on most sides by steep clifs, the dun can be entered from the south, where twin rows of boulders lead to the entranceway.

Very little remains of the fort, though the stumps of walling can be seen around much of its circumference. Below the fort, prominent grassed-over, somewhat sinuous mounds—almost a metre high—head away from the dun for considerable distances. Are these the remains of former defensive ramparts, or simply overgrown remains of dykes built more recently from stone robbed from the fort?